Chapter 40

“No way. Mia’s too much of a coward to take down an attacker. She wouldn’t even stay in the haunted house!”

“Get real. Just because she swapped rooms with Justin doesn’t mean she’s scared of ghosts. That’s not the same as being afraid of dying.”

“Mia’s a badass! She literally ambushed a knife-wielding maniac. Queen behavior.”

“I’m sold. I need her X account ASAP—someone drop the link!”

“Gill just tagged her! New account, barely any followers—everyone go follow her now!”

“Welcome to the Mia fandom! You won’t regret investing in her.”

I scrolled through the comments, stunned. My X account—newly created by Gill without telling me—was blowing up. One post, one contract, and now I have two hundred thousand followers. Every few seconds, that number climbed.

Meanwhile, Justin stood frozen, staring at the surveillance footage like he was seeing it for the first time.

And maybe he was.

From a third-person perspective, the video was brutal: me slipping behind the assailant, catching him off guard, taking the blow meant for Justin. The knife nearly went straight through my chest. I’d blocked it—barely—with my forearm.

He looked shaken. As he should be.

Then he grabbed my wrist and yanked me behind the camera rig, into a quiet corner.

“No one’s watching now. Tell me—” he said, voice rough, “why did you save me?”

I raised an eyebrow. “You think I did it so you’d acknowledge me as your sister?”

He scoffed.

I smiled, cold and sharp. “If I’d known it was you, I wouldn’t have bothered.”

His jaw clenched. “So, you admit it—you saved me just to get something out of it.”

I leaned in. “Shouldn’t you be thanking me?”

That’s when Lilith appeared, playing the role of the poor misunderstood angel.

“Mia,” she said, voice trembling. “Do you want money? Justin, you didn’t know, right? Yesterday she asked for a million just to ride with us to pick up Avery.”

And like clockwork, she shifted into victim mode. “Originally, Mom said she’d have Avery invest in a drama for me. But Mia wasn’t happy. She caused a scene. She made them argue.”

She curled her fingers around Justin’s arm like she had any right. “If she asks for money or resources, just ignore it, okay? I don’t want things to get messy because of me.”

I said nothing.

Why do you ruin a performance when it’s going so well?

Justin’s expression shifted. The suspicion in his eyes sharpened into disdain.

“So that’s it,” he said. “You saved me for money.”

I shrugged. “Pretty much.”

He barked a bitter laugh. “How much? A million?”

I raised one brow. “Ten.”

He blinked. “You’re joking.”

I pulled out my phone and showed him a QR code. “Not at all. You’re Justin—the golden boy of the industry. Are you saying your life isn’t worth ten million?”

His jaw clenched, his hand shaking with rage. And yet—he scanned the code.

Transaction complete.

I gave him a cheerful smile. “Pleasure doing business.”

Lilith yanked her arm free. “Justin, don’t be mad. Mia didn’t grow up with money. She probably thinks ten million is a fortune…”

He didn’t respond right away. Just stared at the ground like it had betrayed him.

“She saved me for money,” he finally muttered. “Risked her life—for that?”

“She might’ve done it for publicity too,” Lilith whispered. “Some people online think the whole thing was staged… that she hurt herself just to go viral.”

Justin flinched, the thought hitting him hard.

Because deep down, he knew that moment hadn’t been fake. The terror he’d felt—the knife pressed to his throat, the blood, the panic—that wasn’t something you could stage.

But still… what if?

Lilith saw the doubt in his eyes and twisted the knife deeper.

“Should we help her clear her name?” she asked softly.

It was bait. She didn’t care about my reputation. She wanted Justin to believe I was nothing more than a social climber, riding his popularity like a ticket to fame.

And she almost had him.

“Don’t bother,” he said coldly. “She’s nothing to me now.”

They returned to the cameras. I stayed back, basking in the irony.

Giselle and Duke were both showering me with praise, even Yvonne—who barely spoke—offered a rare smile. Josephson, meanwhile, stood there like a statue.

A few hours ago, I was the internet villain. Now? A national hero.

Poor Josephson had thrown a tantrum about quitting the show if I stayed. Too bad the livestream had been rolling early—and the entire audience heard him.

Now his antis were having a field day, demanding he make good on his word.

The director clapped his hands. “Now that everything’s cleared up, let’s get today’s episode started.”

Giselle laughed. “Director, we’ve been streaming.”

The camera guy scratched his head. “Sorry! I forgot to cut.”

“No harm done,” the director said. “Let’s keep rolling. Staff, collect their phones!”

Everyone handed over their devices. The director noticed Yvonne lugging a suspiciously large duffel bag.

“Yvonne… what’s in there?”

She flushed. “Um… noodles. And eggs.”

The director sighed. “You know the rules. Essentials only. Medicine and two outfits. We’ll have to confiscate anything extra.”

Yvonne pouted but surrendered the bag, clearly regretting her snack stash.

As for me?

I had ten million in my account, a growing fanbase, and the upper hand.

Let the games begin.